How to set up Twilio SMS from USA to international without upgrading?

Question

I am following the instructions on https://www.twilio.com/help/faq/sms/can-i-try-twilios-global-sms-without-upgrading

However, in Step 2 Give your account calling permission, the countries are quite limited. Does this mean that I cannot set up my Twilio API with a USA number and text to Thailand? It appears that texting to Thailand is not the issue, but rather the ability to call to verify the number to begin with.

In Step 3, "Verify the phone number where you will be sending SMS messages." Does this mean that I can only text to numbers that have been manually verified through this website? What if I want to import a spreadsheet of my contacts that I want to send SMS to? It would be nice to be able to enroll new numbers via an API.

Finally, does upgrading help any solve any of these roadblocks to send SMS from USA to internationally? If not, any recommendations of other services with good APIs?

Thanks for reading and pitching in!

Answer 1

Under the free trial account, you will have to verify every number to use Twilio's service. Upgrading and paying removes the verification requirement.

As quoted from Twilio support when I contacted them to ask this question:

When you upgrade your account, you are free to send SMS anyone, without needing to verify the phone number.

Answer 2

The docs state "Please note, all Twilio SMS-capable numbers can be used to send SMS to other countries."

And then in small print at the bottom, it negates that optimistic statement with..

"Note: While global SMS enabled numbers can generally be used to reach other international destinations, using such numbers to reach +1 destinations (US and Canada) is not supported."

But it means that international numbers can't SMS to the USA or Canada.